| Mardi Paws 2008 |
Above: Mystic Krewe of Mardi Paws 2008!
Mardi Gras is part of a series of carnival days held in Roman Catholic countries between Twelfth Night (Epiphany) and Ash Wednesday.
The origin of these carnivals were tied to pre-Christian spring fertility rites and the most famous modern Mardi Gras festivities are those held in New Orleans, Louisiana; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Nice, France; and Cologne, Germany.
Although the first American Mardi Gras was celebrated near New Orleans in 1699, it took hold in the 1800s and the official parade organizations started to form in the mid-1800s. (Learn more about the history of Mardi Gras.)
The official colors of Mardi Gras are purple, green and gold (representing justice, faith and power) but today the celebrations have really gone to the dogs and everyone is having a howling good time while raising funds for charities.
Now at one time I only knew of a couple of animal krewes such as the Mystic Krewe of Mardi Paws and the Mystic Krewe of Barkus but there are more canine krewes whose festivities appear to go back to the late 1990s.
Krewe of Mardi Paws
Each year a new theme is picked by the Krewe of Mardi Paws and this year Mardi Paws Tunes in to TV.
Some of the categories:
- Desperate Housedogs
- Big Dog, The Bounty Hunter
- America’s Next Top Doggie
- CSI: The Dog Pound
- Grey’s Barkatomy
- I Pug Lucy
- Little Doghouse on the Prairie
- Howligan’s Island
- Doggy, The Explorer
- I Dream of Milkbones
- Leave it to Bow-Wow
- Sponge Bark, Square Pants
- Dancing With The Dogs
- The Young & The Barkless
- Law and Order: D O G
- Starsky &; Pooch
- Howling Montana
- The Dogs Next Door
- The Brady Litter
You get the idea…this will be their 14th Annual Mardi Paws Celebration and will take place on Sunday, March 1, 2009 at 2:00pm.
They are the only krewe to parade after Fat Tuesday which means that they don’t have any competition! Parade proceeds benefit two of the Northshore’s non-profits, Have a Heart Through Art and the St. Tammany Spay/Neuter Program.
The group will lend its name to you if you want to celebrate Mardi Paws in your area so if you are interested, drop by their website to check it out.
| Krewe of Barkus 2008 |
Above: Video of the Krewe of Barkus during Mardi Paws!
The Mystic Krewe of Barkus theme for 2009 is BatMutt: The Bark Night
The Barkus Ball (humans only) will take place at the Windsor Court Hotel, New Orleans (300 Gravier) from 8pm to midnight, on Friday, February 13, 2009.
However the 2009 Parade will start at Armstrong Park on Sunday, February 15th at 2pm but the pawty (before, during & after parade) is open to all at no charge. Armstrong Park will open at 10:30am and is the staging area for the parade participants.
If you want to support their doggone good cause you can become a krewe member for $20 and will receive all mailings of the Krewe for one year.
Charles Darwin The Bicentennial
I like Chuck–great ideas that stuck.
Wouldn’t it be something to leave behind a legacy that still had people talking hundreds of years after you were gone?
If you don’t know who Charles Darwin is–his most popular work is On the Origin of Species which he wrote at 51 years of age.
Darwin was a student at Cambridge–which incidentally is celebrating its 800th anniversary.
Anyway, he set sail on the HMS Beagle as a naturalist and is credited with developing the theory of natural selection which combined with other science (such as mendelism) resulted in the theory of evolution.
After he wrote The Descent of Man things got a bit more interesting.
In fact, the Freedom from Religion Foundation has placed Darwin posters in key locations (like in Dayton, Tennessee where the Scopes Monkey Trial took place in 1925).
As for me, I like the humor that Terrierman exhibits with his Jesus Celebrates the 200th Birthday of Darwin.
Check out the Gallup Poll percentages related to the belief in evolution…anyone else find it weird that so many people are “undecided?”
There is the Christian uproar over the theory of evolution versus the theory of intelligent design but some people don’t see the conflict:
Today’s conservative Christian efforts to force school systems to teach “Intelligent Design,” a form of creationism, reveals the same kind of political and social ideology as in Darwin’s time. Creationism goes hand-in-hand with efforts to claim the United States is a Christian nation. Creationists posit a God who controls the creation; this ideology reinforces political ideas of control of society. This “Christian politics” is sometimes called “dominionism.”
Darwin’s ideas are considered controversial by these Christian conservatives precisely because they are freeing for democratic process and they are freeing for theological reflection. I have found dialogue with the newer genetics, the astonishing leap forward beyond Darwin, to be particularly thought-provoking.
*snip*
…Evolutionary biology also teaches us species solidarity.
Read the entire article: A Christian Progressive Happy Birthday to Darwin by Susan Brooks at the Washington Post.
We need more solidarity…
Now if you are into more scholarly or comprehensive knowledge about Charles Darwin check out AboutDarwin.com.
Anyway, Happy BD to Darwin–since he can’t get any gifts (other than flowers at Darwin’s gravesite at Westminster Abbey) here is a gift to you–download audio or text versions of the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin or download the complete works of Charles Darwin.
Charles Darwin fans can locate events near them over at Darwin Day Celebrations while bloggers can join in the Blog for Darwin project that will go on until Monday.